Jane Beesley's Darfur Diary
|
DAY 5: UM DUKHUN
Jane Beesley, a communications officer for Oxfam Great Britain, took a reporting trip to Darfur, Sudan, in the end of April and the early part of May. She visited camps and towns where tens of thousands of displaced people are now living. Here is her diary of that expedition.
Another helicopter flight took us to the small town of Um Dukhun next to Sudan’s border with Chad. The weather is cooler, the sky is overcast, but the humidity is high. In the “garden” at the office-guesthouse there is a bunker left from the days when there was shooting nearby.
In Um Dukhun there are refugees from Chad and the Central African Republic, as well as many people who have fled from their homes due to the conflict in Darfur. Oxfam recently suspended its work for nearly one month after one of its vehicles was hijacked from one of the camps on the edge of town. This was just the latest in a series of serious incidents, and all the aid agencies temporarily withdrew from Um Dukhun. They have now returned and have only just returned. Unfortunately access to the rural villages around Um Dukhun, where the needs areamong the greatest in the region, is still too dangerous.
I’ve spent most of the day meeting donkeys. Oxfam has distributed more than 500 donkeys to people living in the camps, town, and villages. I’ve met “Helicopter,” “Landrover,” “Rocket,” “Small,” “Fast,” and many more. All are females. All are healthy and hardy. The security risks affect everything Oxfam does, and so we distribute female donkeys as their value is lower and they're therefore less likely to be stolen.
The donkeys are being used to carry people, water, and materials to build homes. People are proud of their donkeys. My Sudanese colleague is surprised that people are naming them.
As the helicopter lifts off to return us to Nyala I feel sad to be leaving. Somehow Darfur has a way of getting under your skin. We have only a few days left until our return to the UK. I’m already hoping I’ll have the opportunity to come back. Before coming here all I’d heard about Darfur were the worst aspects of the conflict. What I’ve had here is the privilege of meeting the most amazing people—people who have been exceptionally warm and welcoming despite what they have been through. These are the people who are the real face of Darfur.
